20100825

UPDATES + NEW STATEMENT

I've been hard at work revamping my website, over-hauling my statement, and making a few additions to my CV. The studio table arrives this weekend, and then I'll be able to get started on art again.

Also I've made a few new contacts this week, and generally finding my way around downtown Charleston (with the help of a new GPS). In a nutshell, I'm looking for opportunities and work in the visual arts. I'm fairly open to a myriad of opportunities- from grassroots curating, to gallery-sitting, to teaching, to administrative, to....well, you get the picture. I'm trying not to limit myself because let's face it, in this economy, one doesn't discount opportunities when they arise. Also I had limited options for many years in the islands, so I'm thrilled to now live in a city that nurtures the arts. I'm looking for open doors...

On to the artist statement: I've learned over the years that the more times I update it, the simpler the task becomes; of course this is the case with writing in general. A nice side effect to writing the statement is that speaking about the work becomes easier; the statement helps the artist be more in tune to the language of one's own art. This isn't something I'd considered before but it's really no surprise.

Here's the updated statement:

The primary intention of my work is to open avenues of emotion and thought through visual elements. I paint intuitively, guided by dynamic interrelationships, connecting them to experience, place and time. A painting begins with anything of interest; I’ll see a shape, texture or color, and use it as a starting point for the work. I imagine these impressions in a different context, a created reality, which of course becomes the painting itself.

I’m attracted to that which is enigmatic, ethereal, paradoxical and contrasting. I admire the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi: that beauty is imperfect, impermanent, incomplete. In my paintings, the drips, runs and uneven shapes adhere to this concept.

I apply several paint layers, repeating the process of adding and subtracting as the work progresses. During the painting process, a complex interplay occurs between material, visual recall, and contemplation. A sense of time’s passage is evident.

Titles are critical. Assigned to elicit a guided response, titles are openings to further contemplation about the work, thereby establishing connections between art and viewer.